16 THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE


up commercially.” This is reportedly leading to large amounts of interest among housing developers already. Towe told Housebuilder and Developer, “If you have a solution like this in your back pocket,” (as a result of being able to build out more of a site), “you can potentially bid more on the land, and be more competitive.” This can also mean being able to build a higher value house or houses with an unobstructed view of countryside, potentially more than offsetting the increased investment of including the FloodSAFE system. Currently unviable developments (e.g. of - homes might be able to achieve an etra  units therefore maing them a commercially realistic prospect. He says that with occupants being able to stay in their homes for “two or three days in a maor flood depending on utilities being working etc), the system also gives first responders a considerably wider window in which to operate. “The opportunity is not ust to build things its to give people in them a better quality of life.” Towe concluded however by wondering why housing has been the only sector that hasnt embraced such advanced offsite concepts yet  its been a real journey to understand it, but we are now seeing exponential growth.” At an event where the prototype house was demonstrated slowly rising above a giant water tank at HM Wallingford, Andrew Parker, founder of Floodjack International, explained how the University of Liverpool was keen to collaborate, in order to gain detailed data from the various sensors placed around the house to assist with its research. The university researchers have created a igital Twin of the house which will be able to take the data from the prototype and incorporate it in their model to see how the structure behaves, and feed back into the project to see where the testing


parameters might need tweaking. An ex-builder Parker developed the straightforward Floodjack system following the  floods when a friends family were uprooted from their home, with worse to come in  when he had another this time uninsured flood devastating the family finances. e eplains there is a social value element to investing in a new, low-cost solution, and is particularly keen to target it at local authorities: “Most of the people affected by flooding are underprivileged and have no choice of where to live.”


He said that 300 local authorities were forced to still build in flood ones with little to no flood defences and said that the FloodSAFE project offered the chance to “put the accountability on the developer, and take the responsibility away from the local authorities.” It enables them to offer “affordable, practical properties which are safe for the property and the people who live in them.”


THE HOUSE TAKES 15 MINUTES TO REACH ITS FULL 1.5 METRE HEIGHT WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK


Simon Gilliland, associate at WSP, reckons that the time is right for a solution like this, given that there is “no silver bullet for flood ris management particularly in light of the impact of climate change. He stresses: “We need to think holistically and harness new approaches like the FloodSAFE House.” The proects instigators believe that the system offers a far more reliable solution than building “ever higher defences,” which even the Environment Agency admits will not be a long-term answer. It is also less expensive than installing resilience measures which need time before occupants can reenter the property after floods. ccording to a recent report, the FloodSAFE House instead provides a social value forecast of a  return for every £1 spent,” partly also because occupants would generally be able to remain in their houses for longer


during a flood. They also believe such an innovation should enable insurance companies to offer a reduction in premiums for new homes in flood ones which doesnt eist currently. Simon Gilliland says that the concept also has a wide potential application internationally with  of the world living in flood plains. The house “unlocks so many opportunities” for planners, he says. And, against other more costly, carbon intensive mitigation measures its a low carbon future- oriented development solution.” Taking a house completely out of the water, the system shifts the paradigm away from resilience or mitigation to complete flood avoidance.” In this way, he believes it is “one of a kind.”


CONCLUSION


The next stage of the project is a test planned at Wirral Waters in conjunction with developer Peel L&P, which will see the team construct  and flood  a house in a somewhat less controllable ‘real world environment than the indoor test provides. The design forms part of a wider bid by Merseyside Strategic Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Partnership to an innovation programme by the Environment Agency, focusing on how smart technology and data analysis could reduce the impact of flooding in the area.


As we approach another winter flooding season its inevitable that as the climate warms, we will see more serious flood events causing untold misery for communities already crippled by a cost of living crisis. While housing developers remain forced to build on unsuitable flood plains, a pragmatic, although unusual solution such as this may be the necessary way forward. Hadley certainly thinks so, and is also confident that efra is een to give its support to the approach.


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